ROCKLAND — For eight years, Thorndike Creamery at 385 Main St. in downtown Rockland grew a loyal following. Pizza aficionados generally agreed it was some of the best pizza around. The specialty sandwiches and salads didn't hurt either. And of course the hand dipped ice cream made it even better. TC closed its doors in December 2015, but the fans couldn't let it go without one more hurrah.

Rock City Café held a wake Thursday evening, so fans could get one more slice of the pie.

Sarah Vokey, Thorndike’s owner, said when she made the announcement of the closing the response on Facebook was overwhelming.

"It was read by over 5,400 people and we had over 200 written responses to it," she said. "Todd Bross from the Midcoast Eating & Drinking Society said we should really do something with this, and it sort of just took off from there."

Vokey said Rock City wanted the venue at their café.

"We were sort of like sister businesses," said Vokey. "We traded things, we did things together, so they were really excited when I approached them."

Rock City Café allowed the space and an open kitchen so everyone could watch Sarah and her team make pizzas.

"People could interact with us while we made the pizzas," she said. "It was just the perfect thing, especially to be able to give back to the community after all the years of running the business, even though I couldn't afford to keep it open any longer, I wanted to say thanks to all our loyal customers and yes, we do appreciate you. It allowed us to go out in a good way; with a bang and not a whimper."

Vokey said it is the winter months in Maine that make it so hard for a business to survive.

"The reality in Maine is that the winter months, suck the summer money right out the door," she said. "You still have overhead and if you want to keep employees you have to give them work. It was one of the hardest decisions of my whole life to close this. I shed quite a few tears over it, but it really came down to money. It was that last time that I needed to put money into the account to cover things that I said, that's it I'm done."

As a restaurant, Thorndike Creamery’s first scoop was served Feb. 19, 2007, and last slice was served Dec. 20, 2015. Vokey said she was proud that her business was able to supply a lot of first time jobs to a lot of young people in the Rockland and Camden area.

"My very first job was in an ice cream parlor," she said. "I remember the frustration of trying to get a first job. I wanted to give kids the opportunity of getting a first job, to learn how to work, learn that you have to show up, learn that if you're asked to be on call, you have to be on call and you can't say no."

Vokey said it was the staff that decided if an employee would get to stay.

"The way it worked was that the first two weeks the new employees were on a temporary schedule," she said. "After two weeks the staff decided if they got voted off the island or not. It actually worked very well and there were very few who didn't get to stay. We've had just fantastic servers and it worked out really, really well."

So what happens to Vokey now?

"Right now I'm going to concentrate on being a mom," she said. "I have two boys who make their mother very proud. Right now I just want to take some time off. I've worked really hard the last couple of years. Down the line I'm playing with the idea of teaching people how to cook in their own kitchens. I want to call it Home Cooking with Sarah. I've had so many people ask me if could teach them how to cook. After so many times I wondered if could turn it into a small cottage industry, with very little overhead."

Dan Kenney, John Lion and Colette McKeen all stood patiently in line waiting for their slice of pizza.

"They had the best pizza in town," said Kenney.

"We live at the Coast Guard barracks, so it was only a block and a half away," Said Lion. "Besides being the best pizza, it was really close to where we live, so it was nice."

Emily Lane, Meghan Lane and Ginger Lane waited in line as well. Meghan had worked there.

"My daughter had worked there [the past] two summers," said Ginger. "They were wonderful people and they gave a lot of young people opportunities to work. Sarah gave kids the chance they needed to let them learn work ethic. She gave them a chance and I'm sad and I'm going to start crying if I talk anymore."

"I used to walk down there from the Lincoln Center to get lunch," said Emily. "Anytime they put bacon and goat cheese and basil on a pizza, or any combination there of. I was a high school kid, I couldn't afford sandwiches, but I would search the couch for quarters just so I could get a slice of pizza."

The capacity crowd wanted only one thing. The chance to have one more slice of Thorndike Creamery pie.

Vokey thought they would wind up making around 120 pies for the evening.

"I have enough dough to make 120 pies," she said. "That's how I know that's how many we'll make."

All the proceeds for the evening (which included a $10 cover charge) went to the AIO Food Pantry.

Everybody agreed, it was a great way to say goodbye.